Don't Let Me Go
by PunkPinkPower
Summary: Kevin saves Mike from drowning. Mike learns to swim. The team watches.


She sees them go down across the bay, right as she swings her samurai sword into the Nighlock. Antonio follows close behind, and the explosion behind them happens a few seconds after the one they are now looking at.

"What?" Antonio asks, stepping forward and demorphing. Mia follows, her stomach sinking.

There had been an explosion, and the Nighlock their friends had been fighting has been destroyed… only the megazord is gone too, and their friends are nowhere in sight.

"Come on," she tells Antonio, and they race to the shore.

Mia's heart is pounding in her ears when they make it to the pier, and they stop, searching the deserted beach for signs of green, blue, red, or yellow. For a short moment there's nothing, just crashing waves and smoke floating over the water. And then Antonio is racing forward, practically tripping in the sand, and Mia follows his gaze to see Jayden dragging Emily out of the surf.

"What happened?" She calls when they're close, and Emily is laying down on the ground, coughing up salt water. Jayden is kneeling beside her, breathing hard. Mia takes Emily's hand.

"Zord's overloaded," he explains. "We had to eject."

"Where are Mike and Kevin?" Antonio asks, and Jayden looks back out at the water.

"Mike didn't come up," he says, his voice quivering, and he tries to stand, and falls. "Kevin's still looking for him."

Mia looks out at the turbulent waves, at the six or seven foot eddies rolling around from the crash of the zords into the water. She tries, but she can't make out Kevin or Mike anywhere in the water.

"I'm going after them," Antonio says, stepping out into the water. Mia is about the follow suit, to go look for their friends, when she finally sees them.

"Look!" She says, grabbing Antonio's arm and pointing.

Kevin's head is poking out of the water a ways out, and he's swimming towards them. Mia squints, and she breathes a sigh of relief them she sees he has Mike tucked under his arm behind him. They rush into the water up to their waists to help Kevin drag Mike out of the water and up to the shore, where he coughs and hacks and throws up and shivers. Kevin stays close to him, keeping a hand on his back.

"Are you guys okay?" Emily asks, sitting, and Kevin nods at her.

Then he turns to Mike, who has mostly calmed down. "I can't believe you can't swim," he says accusingly, but his voice betrayes him. Mia imagines he's trying to sound annoyed, but it comes off as shaky and afraid and uncertain.

"I can swim," Mike retorts, all the humor sucked out of his voice despite his efforts. "I doggie paddle, I tread water; I'm not an Olympic diver, Christ."

Mia tries to smile at them, but she also tries not to get too close. Antonio has gone back to hovering over Jayden and Emily, and Mia wonders if she shouldn't do the same and give them a moment.

She pulls out her samurizer and quickly draws a couple of symbols, pulling blankets for them all out of thin air. She drapes Mike and Kevin's around their shoulders and then hands Jayden's to Antonio, who wraps it around Jayden with a fierce hug. Mia puts the last blanket over Emily, and Emily grins at her, her teeth chattering.

"Are the zords okay?" Emily suddenly wonders, reaching for her pocket. Mia reaches for the place where her turtle zord should be too, and watches everyone else do the same.

She pulls out her turtle zord and it does look a little worse for the wear. Emily's ape coughs up some water and makes a pathetic noise at her.

The zords at least made it through.

"Come on," Jayden says, standing. "We should get back."

Emily starts to stand, but Antonio swoops in and hoists her up in his arms to carry her.

"My hero," Emily teases, wrapping her arms around his neck appreciatively.

Mia stands to follow them, and she glances over at Mike and Kevin just in time to see them pulling apart. _Were they hugging?_ She wonders.

They stand, but Kevin keeps a steadying arm around Mike's shoulders, half of his blanket draped around Mike. She watches Mike wrap a grateful hand around Kevin's waist and lean into him.

Jayden catches up with Antonio and Emily, and the three of them banter back and forth in a tension-relieving way. Mia trails behind them, watching Kevin and Mike out of the corner of her eye, and they walk the entire way back to the Shiba house without snapping at one another or ever pulling away.

* * *

"Is everyone okay?" Ji says the moment they come through the gates.

"Yes," Jayden answers as Ji gives him a relieved hug. "We're fine."

"We could use some hot showers and a good meal," Mike says, speaking for the first time since they left the beach. "And a day off training if you're feeling particularly relieved to see us."

Emily laughs, craning her head over Antonio's shoulder to look at Mike. He's standing next to Kevin, his blanket tucked tightly around himself, and he looks awful, but he still gives her a knowing wink.

"Maybe," Ji says with a small smile as he starts ushering them into the house.

Antonio sets her down on one of the stools, and she thanks him. She'd made a small fuss about being carried, but after that difficult battle and then the exhausting swim to shore after hitting the water with such force, she was so grateful that she hadn't had to walk all the way home, too.

She kicks her shoes off and pulls her feet up under herself, her freezing toes starting to feel again. Her clothes have mostly dried, and the blanket Mia summoned for her is impossibly warm and cozy, but she still feels like a Popsicle. And the salt water has left her skin feeling clammy and dirty, and he lungs burning.

"I call dibs on the first shower," she says as she thinks about it, and Mike comes over to sit next to her.

"No fair," he says, cracking a small smile. "You got carried home. One luxury per injured ranger!"

He reaches over with his foot, shoves her cube a bit so it wobbles. "It's not my fault you didn't think to ask someone to carry you," she teases back, pulling her own foot out from under her to shove at him. They play footsie with their freezing toes for a moment before Emily squeals of her cube starts to tip and Mike starts laughing…

And then he's coughing, hacking so hard it sounds like he's dying, and Emily steadies herself in time to reach out and put a hand on his back.

Mentor comes over with a cup of tea in his hand. "How much salt water did you swallow?"

Emily realizes he's asking her, too, and she shakes her head, unknowing.

Mike shrugs as he gets his coughing under control. "A bit," he says, drinking the tea.

"A lot," Kevin's voice intones, and Emily looks over to see him leaning against the wall tiredly.

"Yeah," Mike agrees, glancing over his shoulder playfully, "And I threw most of that up, so problem solved."

"We should all get some rest," Jayden says, coming up next to Ji, Mia beside him. Antonio has disappeared, but Emily thinks she smells food coming from the kitchen. She hopes its not fish.

"Emily, go take your shower," Ji order, and Emily wants to backtrack, give her dibs to Mike, who is clearly a lot more miserable than her. "Food will be ready when you're out."

"Shoo," Mike tells her as she opens her mouth to object, and she gives him a worried look. "I'd rather eat first, anyway."

Emily looks to Jayden, who gives her a tiny, imperceptible nod, and she stands up and makes her way to the hallway to go shower. She looks back to see everyone crowded around Mike, who waves his hand in an annoyed way and says, "Back off, ya vultures, I'm fine."

* * *

By the time Emily returns from the shower, Jayden stops trying to make himself eat slowly. He knows whoever finishes their food first will be told to go clean up and get warm, and he practically inhales his stew.

To his surprise, Mike hardly seems to be making an effort at eating at all, and Kevin is eating like it's any other day. Neither of them seem in any particular rush to get to the shower next, so Jayden doesn't feel as selfish as he probably should about wanting to go next.

"Antonio, I love you," Emily says as she sits down with her bowl of the thick, warm stew and starts slurping happily.

"Careful," he warns, bringing her a napkin, "It's a little spicy."

"What's in this?" Mia wonders as she too continues to eat.

"Green Chile," Mike answers from across the room, and Antonio points at him happily.

"Aha, mi amigo!" Antonio says happily, going back to his own food. "The best thing for warming the body up, inside and out!"

"My mom will never forgive me," Mike says absently, playing with his spoon, "for making her allergic to it."

"What?" Kevin wonders, glancing over. Everyone else looks intrigued too.

Mike shrugs. "She ate so much of it while she was pregnant with me, and then after I was born, it started to make her sick. She can't eat it anymore, and it was one of her favorite foods.  
She's never gotten over it."

Jayden grins at the story, but the look on Mike's face is a little… down.

Antonio sees it too. "You want I should make you something else?"

"No," Mike shakes his head. "This is good, thanks."

Mike eats some more of the stew, but his face still looks a little… is it homesickness, Jayden wonders? Or something like it, he thinks. It's so seldom that Mike looks anything but happy and amused, and Jayden hasn't had time to familiarize himself with Mike's other emotions.

Kevin apparently has, though, because he reaches down to the table and grabs some of the bread there and hands it to Mike. Then he takes his own piece and dips it in Mike's stew, which is decidedly something Mike would do, not Kevin. He eats it with a smug look.

Mike gives him an amused look, dips his own bread back into his stew and takes a bite out of it.

Jayden tips the last of his stew into his mouth and makes a satisfied noise. He looks back to Mike and Kevin, who are playing keep away with their bowls and bread.

"Away with you," Kevin says without looking up, but he's grinning into his stew, like he's known what Jayden was up to all along.

"Ya filthy animal," Mike intones, and Jayden tilts his head, gives Mike a confused look.

"What?" He asks, uncertain.

Mike waves him off. "Movie quote. I'll show it to you sometime. Go shower."

Jayden nods, and leaves the rest of them to eat.

* * *

Kevin takes a long shower. It's longer than he should, he knows, because Mike is still waiting for one, but he can't help it. The heat of the water feels wonderful on his skin, and it seems to wash away some of the fog of the afternoon, too.

He gets out eventually and goes to find Mike, his skin still a little damp as he trails down the hallway and pulls on his shirt.

Everyone else is crashed out. Jayden had gone to bed right after his shower, and Emily and Mia had retired to their rooms just as Kevin was headed for his shower. Mike had insisted he go first, saying he'd be in the shower for hours and Kevin might as well get his before Mike hogs it. Kevin didn't point out that there wouldn't be much hot water left when he was finished.

He suspected there were other things going on there.

The living room is deserted, and Mike's not in the kitchen. Ji and Antonio are, though, sipping tea and talking quietly. Kevin doesn't interrupt them, and instead heads for Mike's room.

Mike's not in his room. Kevin knocks before he pulls open the door to the dark room, but Mike isn't there, and the room shows no signs of having been recently disturbed.

Kevin thinks, wonders if maybe Mike is sitting out in the courtyard? He goes back to his own room to find some pants instead of his sleeping shorts if he's going to go look outside, and he stops short when he opens the door.

Mike is sitting against Kevin's bed on the floor, balled up in his green fuzzy blanket, his head dropped down in his lap. Kevin stands there for a minute, watching. Mike is clearly exhausted, but Kevin doesn't think he's actually asleep.

"What are you doing?" He asks at last, his voice quiet and somewhat sad.

"Waiting," Mike says, lifting his head to that it falls back against Kevin's mattress. "Thought this would be more efficient."

Kevin goes into his room, closes the door, and goes to sit down in front of Mike. "Oh?"

"Your rooms closer to the shower, you come back here first after your done," Mike supplies, looking aloof. "Time saver all around."

Kevin lets himself grin a little, and then he reaches out and tugs on Mike's blanket. "Well, I'm done. You can go shower now."

Mike nods, but he doesn't move. He opens his mouth like he wants to say something, but he doesn't. He closes his mouth and waits.

Kevin just watches him, his hand lingering near Mike's chest.

"Believe it or not," he says slowly, his eyes unfocused, "I'm not too keen on getting back near a bunch of water."

Kevin considers this. He understands why, obviously. Mike had been under the water, unable to come up, for far too long. And when Kevin had finally found him and dragged him up, he'd been limp but panicked, gasping but unable to thrash around.

Kevin's never had a near death experience before. He imagines that's something Mike can no longer say.

"You have to shower," Kevin tells him gently. "It'll be nice and warm and clean," he coaxes, and Mike shrugs, like those aren't good enough reasons. Kevin frowns. "And if you don't wash all that dirt and salt off you'll break out all over the place."

Mike glares at him. "Appealing to my vanity? Really?"

"Is it working?" Kevin wonders, amused. Mike huffs. "Come on, you'll feel better."

Kevin stands, holds his hand out to Mike. Mike looks at it for a moment. He glances up at Kevin, his face going funny. "This is gonna sound weird," Mike says slowly, but Kevin is ten times ahead of him.

"Mmmm," Kevin agrees, and he reaches down to haul Mike up by his blanket, which he manages. "Probably. But don't worry, the answer's yes."

"Seriously?" Mike wonders, raising an eyebrow.

Kevin hums again, starts pushing Mike towards the door.

* * *

He's actually really glad he didn't have to ask. He's tired, and exhausted, and freaked out, and cold, and it's easier to admit than it usually is that he wants to be near Kevin. But it still doesn't make it an easy thing to do, or to make decisions about.

Kevin seems to be in charge of all that tonight. He steers Mike towards the bathroom, either certain that everyone else is not around or uncaring, and then he closes the door on them. He pulls off his own shirt, sets it on the counter, and then reaches into the large glass shower to turn the water back on.

The spots on the glass haven't yet dried from what Mike assumes was Kevin's own shower.

Kevin comes over, takes the blanket away from him, and Mike shivers. Kevin rubs his arms quickly, creating some friction that reminds Mike both that his skin is covered in salty sea residue and that he's as cold as ice. Then Kevin reaches down and starts pulling Mike's shirt off. He tosses it in the hamper without a word, undoes Mike's jeans in a decidedly businesslike way and pulls his jeans and boxers down in one swoop, making Mike step out of them. Those go in the hamper, too.

Surprisingly, Mike doesn't actually feel exposed. This is the first time Kevin has seen him naked, will be the first time Mike gets to see Kevin naked, but it's… not very sexual? Maybe it's his own tired and shocked body, or maybe it's the way Kevin is treating the situation, but he doesn't feel the need to make innuendos and press himself up next to Kevin. He doesn't feel the need to say anything at all.

He just let's Kevin take care of him, let's Kevin help him, let's Kevin take his hand and guide him into the shower. Kevin stands under the warm water and gently touches Mike with his wet hands so that the sand and salt start to wash off but he's never actually being hit by the water. Like he understands, like he knows. Kevin takes the soap and works it over Mike's chest and back, up and down his arms, down to his legs, avoiding nervous areas. Then he starts letting little bits of water hit Mike, slowly, and Mike finds himself less afraid all the time. He doesn't even flash back to the afternoon, to the ocean and the currents and the crick in his side.

Maybe it's because Kevin is there, like he had been earlier, that Mike feels so safe and relieved. Because he'd been drowning, he was sure of it, until he felt familiar hands come up around his chest and then there was air, and pain, and confusion, and Kevin saying "Don't let go of me," over and over behind him. And Kevin had saved him, had risked his own life to pull Mike back up, and now here he is again, working his magic, making sure Mike's okay.

Kevin pours some shampoo onto his hands and lathers it up, and then works it into Mike's hair. Mike takes the time to study Kevin's face as he works. He looks focused, concentrated, but also relaxed. Like this is normal. Like taking care of Mike right now is something he's enjoying. It makes Mike smile a little.

"Here," Kevin says when he's finished washing Mike's hair, and he puts his hands down on Mike's shoulders gently and starts to change positions with him, until Mike in the one under the spray, the shampoo rushing out of his hair and down his back.

He sort of takes over from there, using his own hands to work the rest of his hair clean, rubbing over himself to get whatever dirt Kevin might have missed off. And the water feels good, and not at all like the ocean, and he's not going to put his face under the spray just at this moment but he's not afraid of it, not feeling like it might come alive and try to drown him all over again.

Kevin reaches behind him and rinses his hands from the rest of the shampoo, and then he reaches down and shuts the water off. The steam is still pretty thick in the air even when the water is gone, and Mike does feel better. He takes his hands and wipes excess water off himself and shakes them off, and then looks back at Kevin.

Kevin's looking at him too, but his face has gone all soft, and Mike isn't at all surprised when Kevin reaches over and cups Mike's face with both of his hands and pressed their lips together.

And it's nice, and soft and warm, and Mike grabs onto Kevin's elbows to step closer, just for a moment, to make him stay. And it's not, okay, it's not exactly the starting kiss of some romantic interlude. Mike's not even sure it counts as a real kiss, since all they're doing is standing with their lips pressed together, holding onto each other, breathing. But he likes it, and he doesn't want it to end, even if he's not sure it should go any further.

Kevin pulls his lips away, but he doesn't leave. He just tilts his forehead against Mike's and closes his eyes, like he's collecting himself. Like Mike has shattered something in him just now that was keeping him strong, and he might fall apart if Mike doesn't hold him up. Mike rubs his thumbs against Kevin's arms gently.

Finally, after a long moment, Kevin does pull away. He opens the door to the shower and reaches out, grabbing a towel that he hands to Mike, and then one for himself.

They step out of the shower and Kevin towels off and gets dressed, and Mike just ties the towel around his waist because he didn't bring any clean clothes to put on. He spend a few moments hacking up leftover salt from his lungs in the sink, and Kevin pats his back carefully and hands him a tissue to wipe his mouth.

He nods when he's ready to go, and Kevin opens the door and peaks his head out.

"Hey," Mike says belatedly, and Kevin looks back at him. "Thanks,"

Kevin nods, his hand still on the doorknob. "Sure."

"No, I mean," Mike waves his hand around, uncertain. "For this and, also, for earlier. For… not leaving me behind."

Kevin looks at him, his eyes narrowing a little bit. He closes the door again. "I would never leave you behind. Not if I could help it. None of us would."

"I know," Mike says, and now he does feel exposed. He crosses his arms over himself, feeling ridiculous. He can be naked in the shower with the guy but not have a twenty second conversation about feelings? "Not on purpose. Look, what I'm saying is, you looked for me, in a confusing situation where anyone else would have only cared about getting themselves out of the water, you came back for me. And I'm grateful. Really grateful."

Kevin looks at him for a long moment, and Mike is about to reach for the doorknob and shoo him out of the bathroom when Kevin nods. "Yeah," he agrees slowly. "You're right. I don't know why I looked for you, to make sure you were okay. But I did- I do, all the time. So I'm never going to leave you, okay?"

Mike nods, and he does feel bizarrely comforted by that. Because he couldn't ask for someone better than Kevin to be looking out for him, to be caring about him. Even if it's not for reasons either of them are totally sure about yet.

They leave the bathroom, and Mike goes back to his own room to put on some clothes. He doesn't expect to hear a knock a few moments later, when he's sitting on his bed, contemplating sleeping.

Kevin comes in, and without any explanation comes over and sits next to Mike on the bed. He leans towards him, no hands this time, and actually kisses him. He presses his lips against Mikes and twists his head and this is a lot more like what they usually do than the kiss in the bathroom had been.

He pulls away abruptly, looking abashed. "Sorry," he says, shaking his head, looking like he wants to leave. "I just, I wanted to…"

"Hey, it's okay," Mike says, putting his hand on Kevin's arm that propping him up on the bed. "You've earned it, I think."

And Kevin grins at him, and Mike grins back, and Mike kisses Kevin a couple more times before Kevin tells him good night and leaves.

* * *

"Hey," Mike's voice comes into the kitchen the next morning, surprising her a little with his jovialness. He cartwheels up to the counter, snags an apple out of the fruit bowl and bites into it with a loud crunch before he looks at Kevin and says, "I think you should teach me how to swim."

Kevin looks up from his oatmeal, his eyebrows raises. He looks around at the rest of them sitting there as though he's making sure Mike is addressing him, and then looks back at Mike.

He's opening his mouth to say something when Mike points at him and corrects, "Better! Swim better."

Kevin grins. "Seriously?"

"Yeah," Mike nods, leaning on the table and eating some more of his apple. "I feel like this is a skill I should have."

"Not me," Emily says across the table, handing the plate of pancakes to Mia, who takes them as she continues watching the exchange. "I never want to be near a large body of water again."

"Oh yeah no," Mike agrees instantly, waving her off. "Not in the ocean. Public pool. With chlorine, and screaming children."

"I've never been to a public pool," Jayden adds from beside her. Mia shoots him a look.

"Really?" She wonders, and Jayden nods.

"After the whole incident with Antonio, Ji figured I was primed to hand out the rest of the zords at a kind word, so he kept me sort of isolated." Jayden shrugs, like this is no big deal, but Mia has to bite her lip at the idea.

"Hardly," Ji says, coming into the kitchen looking disapproving, Antonio right behind him. "I kept you safe."

"Are you implying I'm dangerous?" Antonio wonders, sitting down beside Emily and taking his fork to her plate. Emily doesn't look at all annoyed, even scoots the plate closer to him to make it easier to share.

"As an unstable nuclear reactor," Ji agrees, but Mia thinks she can see him smiling. "But Jayden still insists we keep you around."

"He loves me," Antonio says happily, nodding, and Mia laughs. Jayden blushes a little, but he keeps a straight face. "And you do too, even if you'll never admit it."

"I most certainly will not," Ji agree amiably, and Mia is starting to wonder what's going on with them, because they seem to be actually getting along, for a change. "What's this about swimming lessons?"

"I want them," Mike, who is finishing his apple, waves it around to guide mentor to him. "I think it would be a good substitute for training for a day, right?"

"What happened to wanting the day off?" Mia asks, glad that everything seems to be back to normal.

Mike shrugs. "I want that, too, but we're more likely to get him to agree to let us go swimming in the guise of training than just a regular day off."

Mia laughs, looks over at Mentor who has raised an eyebrow and is evaluating Mike's cheeky look.

"Hey, hold on," Kevin says, wiping his mouth off with a napkin. "I haven't actually agreed to teach you, yet."

Emily pokes Kevin in the arm with her fork. "Kevin," she says reproachfully, "Don't be a spoilsport."

"Just because I'm good at something doesn't mean I can teach it," Kevin objects, wiping his arm off where Emily poked him.

"How unusually humble of you," Antonio quips, and Jayden laughs into his juice. Mia grins, gives Kevin a look that says she agrees. He sticks his tongue out at her.

"It's not like you're teaching beginners," Mike says, taking another piece of fruit out of the bowl. "You'd just be refining our techniques, not starting from scratch."

"Yeah," Mia agrees, liking the idea of spending the day lounging by the pool more and more every minute. "We all know how to swim. You should just teach us how to swim faster."

Kevin sighs, giving them both equal looks of disapproval, but she thinks he's starting to get that he won't have to do any real teaching.

"I guess," he agrees, crossing his arms, and Mike raising his in victory.

"Come on, Ji," Jayden adds, looking over at their Mentor. "It'll still be good training and exercise."

Ji gives them all a look that says he knows exactly what they're up to, but either he's going soft or he was going to give them the day off already, because he just nods and agrees to pack them some healthy lunches to take.

Emily jumps up, excited. "I have the cutest swimsuit that I haven't had a change to wear yet," and she rushes off to her room to get it, leaving Antonio to finish her pancakes. Which he does, happily.

Mia holds her hand out to Mike for a low five. "Well played, my green friend," she says, amused as Mike slyly smacks her hand.

"Thank you for the assist," he says, and then he smacks Kevin once on the chest happily and leaves.

* * *

"CANNON BALL!"

The splash actually hits them, and Mia yelps as Emily bursts into giggles. Jayden laughs and follows Antonio into the pool, and Kevin sits with Emily while her sunscreen dries. Mike ends up hauling Mia over to the water and pushing her in, and she threatens great bodily harm when she comes back up. He stays on the edge, dangling his feet over and shoving her back as she tries to drag him in.

"See?" Emily says, nudging him. "This was a great idea."

Kevin makes a noise of agreement, but he's not as sure. He watches Mike, who still hasn't gotten in the water, and tries not to worry.

"He's fine," Emily chides, and Kevin looks over at her. Her big floppy hat and large sunglasses make it difficult to read her expression, but it looks comforting. "There are lifeguards, and it's only a nine foot pool. Nothing's going to happen."

"I wasn't-" Kevin starts to object, but Emily just goes "MmmmHmmm" and looks away.

Kevin doesn't know what to say back, so he just watches the others, trying to make it look like he isn't watching Mike. Emily nudged him again. "Go swim," she says, "I'll be in soon."

Kevin looks over at her again, but this time she isn't looking at him. He stands and does as he's told, heading for the pool.

He wants to sit down next to Mike before he gets in, see how he is, but he has this feeling Emily is watching him, so he doesn't. He just jumps into the water and stays under it for a couple of seconds, enjoying the feel of being surrounded.

When he comes up, he sees that Mia has succeeded in getting Mike mostly in the water. He's holding onto the side of the pool, laughing, and Mia and Antonio have his legs and are dragging him backwards.

Jayden is treading water and watching with an amused look, and Kevin can see other people in the pool are also eyeing them strangely.

"Let go!" Mia demands, laughing as Mike tries to kick away from her.

"No!" Mike shouts back, "You'll dunk me!"

"With a fury!" Mia agrees, practically cackling.

Jayden swims over to him. "Should we help him?" He asks, looking mischievous.

Kevin tries not to grin. It's really not funny to be dunked. Of course, when you're doing the dunking on the other hand… He nods, and they swim towards them.

He goes for Mia, and Jayden grabs Antonio, and before they know what happening they're both underwater, and they've let go of Mike.

Antonio comes back up yelling about betrayal, and he goes after Jayden. Mia comes up coughing, and for a second he wonders if she's okay, but then she lunges and takes him under.

When he comes up this time, Emily is sitting next to Mike on the side of the pool, and Mike has his elbows up on the edge, laughing at them all.

"I'll get you," Mia tells Mike warningly, smiling.

"I'm sure you will," Mike agrees happily, "But not today."

Mia swims away, and Emily hops into the water at last, following her, and he thinks he hears Antonio complimenting her suit. He's not paying much attention though, as he swims over to the edge of the pool and pulls his arms up to float next to Mike.

"She's vicious," Mike says, looking fond. "I think I underestimate her sometimes."

Kevin looks over at him, grins, but doesn't say anything back.

"So," Mike says conversationally, pushing off the wall and into the water at last. "You gonna teach me how to improve my swimming?"

Kevin turns to look at him. "I thought that was a ploy."

Mike tilts his head from side to side, which Kevin assumes is his idea of a shrug in the water. "I was sort of half serious."

"Like you are about everything?" Kevin wonders, following Mike off the wall and out into the water.

"Exactly," Mike agrees happily, glad Kevin is catching on. "So show me."

And as much fight as he'd put up earlier, he doesn't mind showing Mike a little bit. It's something to do, and it's with Mike, and the others are all distracted anyway, so. He wonders again if maybe Mike's insistence about coming to the pool had something to do with conquering his fears about being in the water. But Mike seems fine, and so Kevin doesn't worry about it too much.

Later, when they take a break and sit under a shady tree and dig into their lunches, things have calmed down considerably. Everyone is in need of an afternoon nap from the sun and the swimming, and Mia decides to put on her sunglasses and pass out on her towel for a while. Emily follows suit, taking her big floppy hat and sprawling out on her towel with it over her face. Jayden is leaning up against the chain link fence behind the tree, his fingers hooked in it idly, and Antonio has his head resting on Jayden's leg.

Mike comes over and sits next to Kevin against the tree, so that their shoulders touch. And when everyone else is mostly dozing off, Mike leans his head down on Kevin's shoulder and lets out a sigh.

"Thanks for teaching me to swim better," Mike whispers, and Kevin finds his hand and takes it, giving it a squeeze in response.

* * *

It's the second time they've showered together. This time is decidedly less docile. There's kissing, and hands, and sounds, and the water runs cold by the time they're out.

It's not a bad way to spend an evening, Mike decides as he hoists himself up on the bathroom counter to watch Kevin towel off and get dressed. And he watches, doesn't even try to hide that he's doing it, until Kevin blushes and gives him a look.

"Stop," Kevin says, clumsily pulling on his shirt. Mike smiles.

"Make me," he teases, which earns him an even more disapproving look.

Kevin tosses him his shirt. "Put on your clothes."

Mike obeys, pulling on his jeans and his shirt and then crowding Kevin into the corner of the room and locking their lips back together.

"Come on," Kevin says, pulling away. "We can't stay in here forever."

Mike disagrees by kissing him again, and Kevin grins into it. And Mike wins, because Kevin keeps kissing him.

They're lazy kisses, the kind you trade with someone who is more familiar than they are to each other, the kind you give someone without thinking too much. They're just as nice as the steamy shower kisses, and the when-no-one-is-looking kisses, and the not-sure-they-count kisses, and that first, clumsy, half insane kiss they'd shared that had started all this. All their kisses are good kisses, Mike decides, letting Kevin pull away and do something sappy with his hand against Mike's cheek.

* * *

That night, when they all convene in the living room after dinner, they put on a new movie that Emily and Mia convince them all will be fantastic, and they crowd onto the furniture in a big heap.

Emily and Antonio are a tangle of limbs together with the popcorn between them. Jayden is happily wedged between Antonio and the arm of the couch. Mia has her legs hanging over the side so that her head can rest on Emily's arm, and so Mike and Kevin end up on the floor, Mike with his arm wrapped around Kevin's shoulders.

Emily looks down at them, nudges Antonio's foot with her own and nudges her head. Antonio grins. "Good for you guys," he says as the movie starts.

Kevin looks back over his shoulder at them, his face maybe a little worried, but Mike reaches over and makes him look forward with his hand. So they aren't acknowledging it, or at least aren't willing to be teased, but they're not hiding it, either.

Emily grins, pops some popcorn into Mia's mouth, and happily watches the movie, warm and safe with everyone around her.

And if her foot eventually ends up smacking Mike in the back of the head and their movie night degenerates into playful fighting over what's left of the popcorn and roughhousing, well. That's okay. No one really minds.


End file.
